6.10.2011

At Vernice Biennale, June 1, 2, 3, Venice

Arriving in Venice is always a bit 'weird. Every time I wonder how they can hold those houses, the foundations were built on ground so unstable, the water line is like thirty centimeters below the height of the windows. Then I remember the Visigoths and the Longobards invasions, and the fact that the city was the capital of the Venetian Republic, and that every years welcomes a crazy number of people ... even if my question remains in part unresolved, its historical roots confort me.

Moving around without losing yourself in the maze of streets, bridges and "campi" is quite challenging; an iPhone in my bag is not enough, Google Maps misfires and people know that giving information is often a futile effort...

But everybody is very kind, always. And the atmosphere created during the inaugural days of Biennale is something rare.

Of course, the frame is more than ever chic and elegant. People are all mixed up, smiling to each other "scenario". Brilliant minds and beautiful architectures are everywhere!

Travelling by boat is what it is, you need to be patient, or rent a private boat. By the way, all the efforts are amply rewarded when you enter into the gardens of Biennale: aesthetic details of every single pavilion reveal the characteristics of the nations they represent; sometimes you can see a glare between the trees, which means "sea ​​beyond the hedge".

Walking through the gravel paths is easy to run into an athlete, who trains on an overturned tank. Entering the adjacent American pavilion you can attend the performance of professional gymnasts, exercising on some worn first class seats from American Airlines; you can even listen to the harmonious notes of an ATM/organ, happy for a transaction: this is the creativity of Jennifer Allora and Guillermo Calzadilla, Puerto Rican duo, representing the United States.

Austria is austere and elegant, as always. The work of Markus Schinwald is one of my favourite: through various techniques, ranging from painting to experimental film, he examines the human body, destabilizing the 'internal space", suggesting some kind of research to the visitors.

And then France, Korea, Japan, Sweden, England ...

Video-art is completely charming! You can get lost in stories of a dancing Obama in a sunny square, just in front of the "Queen Sofia" Museum in Madrid, video-opera by Martin Sastre. Absolutely you must admire "The Clock" by Christian Marclay, capable of create a narration taking images from many film.. Omer Fast, Israeli artist, enchants with breathtaking footage from a helicopter, a prelude to the same story, developed by changing internal parts every time. The list could continue!

Without realizing it, in a moment you are in a room where people are becoming the opera, thanks to the clay of Norma Jeane, "nom de plume" behind a man. It's funny to be photographed next to self-portrait from Cindy Sherman, or to admire a huge sculpture inspired to "The Rape of the Sabine Wome" from sixteenth century, recreated in wax by Urs Fisher, the statue is in fact a huge candle, and it is melting (the label on the wall defines the size of the work as "variables").

A special mention to Regina Jose Galindo, from Guatemala: sheexhibitedherrotten gold teeth, pulled out by an European dentist, to report the futility of tangible things and the metaphor of South America colonial plunder

Within such a large concentration of quality, it's almost embarrassing to visit the Italian pavilion, rightly criticized and criticized.

But we host the Biennale, it is good enough, isn't it?

Fortunately, I run into Rick Owens and his wife, and thanks God that Italy is also represented by Maurizio Cattelan and Monica Bonvicini, just to mention two names. The moral rises up!

Negative note for the party anxiety, which can be harmful. Although, to be honest, it's a sin not to attend when you have boats events, parties on mysterious islands or in magnificent palaces, inevitably ending up in the halls of Bauer Hotel or at chic "Bungalow 8".

Competitions, silent challenges, psychotic dramas, fakework-related stress, superfluouseccentricity, exaggerated exhibitionism... these arguments are out here! People talk in a totally easy way. Nothing like "OMG, I am so tired, I had a shooting today, I am exahusted... you can't understand!", or "This city is so boring, I deserve more"...